Bindumadhav Khire
Born
Pune, Maharashtra, India
NationalityIndian
Other namesBindu
Occupation(s)Social worker
writer
dramatist
AwardsFull list

Bindumadhav Khire is an LGBTQ+ rights activist from Pune, Maharashtra, India. He runs Samapathik Trust,[1] an NGO which works on LGBTQ+ issues in Pune district.[2] He founded Samapathik Trust in 2002 to cater the men having sex with men (MSM) community in Pune city.[3] He has also written on the issues on sexuality in fictional and non-fictional forms including edited anthologies, plays, short-stories, and informative booklets.[4]

Personal life

Khire left his career as a US-based IT professional to work with the LGBT community in India, returning to his hometown Pune in 2000.[5] Getting associated with activities of San Francisco based Indian gay magazine Trikone helped Bindumadhav to accept himself as gay man.[3] Being Indian and being in the events organized by local queer community in the San Francisco and was always at the core of his stay in the US; this process culminated in him coming out to his parents and coming back to India and work with LGBT community in India.[5][6]

Activism

Samapathik Trust

With the assistance of Ashok Rao Kavi and Humsafar Trust, Bindumadhav Khire started Samapathik Trust in Pune in 2002.[7][1] Since then Samapathik Trust has taken up several initiatives to reach, intervene, and mobilize the LGBT community in Pune city.[8]

  • HIV/AIDS, Helpline – Bindumadhav started a telephonic helpline service for MSM community in 2008,[9]
  • Drop in Center – For community meetings, informal gatherings the DIC was operational till July 2015 and it was closed because of shortage of funds.[10]
  • Periodical HIV testing Camps –
  • Beauty Parlor/Training center – Beauty parlor and training center was started with the name of Purple Lotus Beauty Salon and Training Academy specially to cater needs of transgender community in Pune city, who ever otherwise denied services in other beauty parlors meant for women.[11][12] Though this activity did not last long and it was shut down in next few months because of considering response from community and other technical reasons.

Bindumadhav Khire has dissolved Samapathik Trust and now works through their new non profit organization Bindu Queer Rights Foundation. He provides support to LGBTIQ community through various activities.

Pune Pride Parade

Bindumadhav started Pune Pride March in 2011,[13] Pune Pride started with 100 community members participating in the first march and till 2018 it has risen to 800 participants.[14]

Advait Queer Film Festival

With the belief that films are good medium of education Bindumadhav started film festival first Pune in 2014[15] After the first year of festival it was forced wait till the enough funds were gathered to host it. In 2017 December Pune had its second film festival[16] In 2018 October the third film festival was organized, funds crunch remains big issue for film festival.[17][18]

Muknayak – LGBT Literature Festival

To create a platform for emerging writers from LGBT community and Muknayak LGBT literature festival was started by Bindumadhav. Muknayak the name of the festival is inspired from Babasaheb Ambedkar's newspaper Muknayak. In December 2018, the first Marathi LGBT literature festival was organized at Pune.[19][20] Many gays, lesbians, trans-persons who have been writing poems, plays in print/press and even self-publishing platforms participated in the festival and presented their writings. Festival also had sessions by experts on self-publishing platforms.[21]

Queer Katta – Informal support group meetings

Considering constraints of formal structures like DIC's, counseling centers and similar, Bindumadhav started informal meetings,[22] where anyone from LGBT community or non-community can come and meet Bindumadhav and others attending the same meeting.[23] Such meetings are conducted once in a month, with no agenda than casual chit chat, in gardens/college canteens/public places where anyone can come and join.[24]

Controversies

Pune Pride 2017

In 2017, Pune Pride March became the site for many questions,[25] When organizer of Pune Pride Bindumadhav Khire declared that participants are supposed to wear decent cloths.[26] Few participants actually boycotted Pride to show opposition to Bindumadhav Khire.[27] But on the pride day around 800 participants came from all over India showing support and solidarity.[28]

Writings

Edited books

  • Manachiye Gunti (Marathi)[29] /Beautiful People (English)[30] – A compilation of stories of parents of LGBT people[31]
  • Saptaranga (Marathi) – A compilation of stories of third gender and transgender people[32]
  • Antaranga (Marathi) – A anthology of autobiographies by Marathi gays and lesbians from Maharashtra[33]

Fiction

  • Partner (Marathi/ Hindi)[34]

Informative booklets/books

  • Manavi Langikakata : Ek Olakh (Marathi) (Introduction to Human Sexuality)[35]
  • Indradhanu: Samalaingikateche Vividh Ranga (Marathi) (Different Colors of Homosexuality)[36]
  • Intersex – Ek Prathamik olakh (Marathi) (Basic Introduction to Intersex)[37]

Plays

  • Jaswanda (Marathi)[38]
  • Purushottam (Marathi)[39]
  • Fredy (Marathi)[40]

References

  1. 1 2 "Who We Are | Samapathik". Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  2. ↑ "Pune Heroes: Bindumadhav Khire". Pune Mirror. 29 July 2016. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Now, we are rid of the code that disempowered us: Bindumadhav Khire". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  4. ↑ Chanda-Vaz, Urmi. "Gay literature is firmly out of the closet in India, and winning readers over". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  5. 1 2 Rao, R. Raj; Sarma, Dibyajyoti (2009). Whistling in the Dark: Twenty-One Queer Interviews. Sage Publications. pp. 257–259. ISBN 9788178299211.
  6. ↑ "Project Bolo. vol 1, 2010–2011 [videorecording] : a collection of oral histories of Indian LGBT persons : Bindumadhav Khire, Manvendra Singh Gohil / | University of Toronto Libraries". search.library.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  7. ↑ Trikone. Trikone. 2002.
  8. ↑ "Fund crunch forces NGOs to quit HIV prevention project". The Indian Express. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  9. ↑ "Now, a helpline for the gay fraternity – Indian Express". The Indian Express. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  10. ↑ Mukherjee, Jui (23 July 2015). "Not so 'gay' after all". SIMC Wire. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  11. ↑ Chavan, Vijay (8 March 2011). "Trans-cending borders of beauty". Pune Mirror. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  12. ↑ "Pune's First Beauty Parlor Exclusively for Transgenders". Indiamarks. 19 June 2012. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  13. ↑ "LGBT community holds rally in city". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  14. ↑ "Pune pride raises a toast to equality". dna. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  15. ↑ "City to host its 1st LGBT film festival". The Indian Express. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  16. ↑ "On pause for three years due to lack of funding, Pune queer film festival makes a comeback tomorrow". The Indian Express. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  17. ↑ "'Advait' Queer Film Festival to be held on Oct 6". sakaltimes.com. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  18. ↑ "An interview with Bindumadhav Khire". TEDxPICT BLOG. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  19. ↑ "'Not his or her story, it is time to tell our stories'". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  20. ↑ "मूकनायकांचा संवेदनशील हुंकार". esakal.com (in Marathi). Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  21. ↑ "एलजीबीटीआय साहित्य संमेलन होणार दरवर्षी". Maharashtra Times (in Marathi). 26 November 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  22. ↑ "No 'safe zone' for transgenders on Pune campuses, still". 31 August 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  23. ↑ "First meet of LGBT community held in a canteen near Garware College". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  24. ↑ "No judgement, only acceptance and support at this queer katta". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  25. ↑ "Flamboyance or decency? Queer community in a dilemma". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  26. ↑ "Sec 377 is history. It is battle won, but war to get social equality remains". 7 September 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  27. ↑ Chatterjee, Anupriya (31 May 2017). "Pride march faces boycott as Khire bans 'flamboyance'". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  28. ↑ "From Engineer in US To LGBT Rights Activist in India: Meet The Man Who Organised Pune's Biggest Pride Parade". The Logical Indian. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  29. ↑ "Marathi book to help parents understand homosexual sons, daughters – Indian Express". The Indian Express. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  30. ↑ Cornelious, Deborah (19 November 2016). "Accepting queer children". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  31. ↑ "जब एक पिता को पता चला कि बेटा समलैंगिक है". 11 September 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  32. ↑ "सप्तरंगी लिखाण". divyamarathi (in Marathi). 29 June 2013. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  33. ↑ "Antarang – giving words to travails of same-sex relationship – Indian Express". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  34. ↑ Khire, Bindumadhav (2008). Partner (in Marathi). Bindumadhav Khire.
  35. ↑ "मानवी लैंगिकता एक प्राथमिक ओळख-Manavi Laingikata Ek Prathamik Olakh by Bindumadhav Khire - Samapathik Trust". bookganga.com. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  36. ↑ Khire, Bindumadhav (2008). Indradhanu: Samalaingikateche Vividh Ranga (in Marathi). Bindumadhav Khire.
  37. ↑ Khan, Ashwin (16 June 2015). "Insight into intersex". Pune Mirror. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  38. ↑ Bende, Anurag (24 June 2016). "Theatre Censure With Gay Abandon". Pune Mirror. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  39. ↑ "Pune's gay rights group to host queer play readings". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  40. ↑ "Marathi play locks horns with censor". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
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